


One Step Ahead

by Feneris



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Community: snkkink, Gen, Hiding, Masters of Disguise, Running, Staying One Step Ahead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 16:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1272898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feneris/pseuds/Feneris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one was quiet sure exactly how Eren Jeager had escaped from military custody, but the fact remained that he had.</p><p>The investigation was complicated by the fact that it had been several hours before anyone even realized Eren was gone. This was due to the fact that the boy in question had been replaced by a crude dummy made of straw, clay, and an old rug. In addition the guard on duty was unable to provide any new information, or in fact do anything beyond huddle in the corner and repeat "I saw nothing," over and over.</p><p>That was only the beginning of things. Who knew the three of them could be so good at staying one step ahead of everyone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Step Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, another SnK Kink meme fill. I had a lot of fun filling this one, for reasons you can probably guess. 
> 
> As for background information, just know that the old ways of making leather is truly a vile process and uses some truly vile ingredients. Ingredients like pigeon brains and dog urine. As you can imagine the smell was absolutely vile, and there are cases in cities like Florence of the tanneries being banished to the out districts of the city because of their smell.
> 
> Enjoy!

No one was quiet sure exactly how Eren Jeager had escaped from military custody, but the fact remained that he had.

The investigation was complicated by the fact that it had been several hours before anyone even realized Eren was gone. This was due to the fact that the boy in question had been replaced by a crude dummy made of straw, clay, and an old rug. In addition the guard on duty was unable to provide any new information, or in fact do anything beyond huddle in the corner and repeat "I saw nothing," over and over.

They first attempted to track the boy using dogs and a scrap of clothing Jeager's fellow cadets had acquired for them. The dogs had taken one sniff of the sample, let out a high pitched whine, and then bolted under the nearest porch and cowered. Refusing to come out no matter how much their handlers ordered, threatened, and pleaded.

Upon hearing of the situation, Commander Erwin Smith of the Scouting Legion had promptly lent Mike's inhuman nose to the situation. Mike had promptly picked up Eren's scent, and had dutifully tracked the boy half-way across town, through the sewers, and right into the heart of the city's leather-making district.

Whereupon the search had to be called off as Mike became overwhelmed by the district's odor, and was violently ill.

\---

The Military Police officer on duty at the gates of Stohess was bored. Guard duty was always boring. All he basically had to do was to stand by and make sure no undesirables tried to sneak into the inner city.

Determining undesirables was easy. All he had to do was look out for the people not dressed like a noble, and was not either a servant, or one of the royal chartered merchants authorized to trade with the inner city. Servants usually carried a seal from their masters, and the charter merchants had to have their charter with them, so it was pretty easy.

Not to mention that the roads were basically empty this time of day anyway. The only people approaching the gate were a group of three teenagers, one boy was striding as if he owned the whole district, the other boy was wringing his hands, and the girl was following a bit behind, her gaze lowered to the floor. As they got closer, he could make out their conversation.

"Master Eren," the blond boy was pleading. "Your mother is going to be so mad that you lost your seal."

"Well it's your fault!" the striding boy snapped back. "You were the one who said I should bring it with me. It's not my fault it got stolen!"

"That's because we need it to get back into the Inner City!" the blond boy practically cried. "Oh, we are going to be in so much trouble!"

The three came to a stop in front of the gates. "Looking to get into the Inner City?" the guard grunted.

"Of course," the brown-haired boy answered, as if the question was the stupidest thing he had ever heard.

The guard narrowed his eyes, the boy was dirty, but even a passerby could easily tell most of the dirt was either theater paint, or had been rubbed on deliberately. While the boy's clothes were plain, they were also too new to belong to any outer district boy that dirty. "Why?" he grunted.

"Because I live there," the boy hissed, as if that fact should be perfectly obvious. "Can we hurry this up? I've got things to do."

Yup, the guard decided. The boy was the very picture of some noble's spoiled scion, sneaking out to the outer districts for a good time, dragging a couple of hapless servants with him, and all the while under the oblivious misconception that he blended in.

"Right," the guard grunted, gesturing towards the gate. "Get yourself home boy, and next time don't loose your seal."

The brown-haired boy huffed, and brushed right past him. The girl followed silently in his wake, and the blond boy paused only long enough to give a relieved thank you. As they made their way out of sight, he just barely heard the brown-haired boy say, "See, told you we'd be able to get in."

The guard sighed and shook his head.

Damn noble brats.

\---

It had been over a week since Eren and his friends had all but vanished off the face of the earth. It was safe to say that Annie was starting to get annoyed. Eren and his two buddies were proving exceptionally difficult to track down, somehow managing to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Trails seemed to wind hither and dither all over the place, twisting a looping back on themselves in a seemingly nonsensical manner, before dropping off completely. There were reports of them being sighted in the burnt out ruins of Trost disguised as dead bodies. A man in Kolva claimed to have seen them pass through pretending to be a troupe of wandering entertainers. They were sighted in the Inner City as guests at a duchess's birthday party, (no one knew who they were, just that they were apparently very important.) There were reports of them leaving over the walls, and reports of them returning over the walls.

The term "wild goose chase" didn't even begin to describe it. That's why Annie decided that she needed professional help. That was why she found herself outside a sleazy bar tucked away in the back-alleys of the Inner City's slums. Officially, the men and women inside were bounty hunters. In reality they were a motley collection of kidnappers, murderers, assassins, and con-artists, and it was said that if you wanted someone found, they were the people who could find them.

The inside of the bar was little better than the outside, but Annie boldly walked straight to the counter, ignoring everyone else in the room. People like them could smell fear.

"I need to find some people," she stated, sliding a coin across the counter towards the bartender.

The man snapped up the coin instantly. "Who?"

"Eren Jeager, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert."

The entire bar of hardened criminals fell silent.

The bartender shot forward, his face inches from Annie's. "Never! EVER! Say those names again!" He shuddered. "You want them to hear you!?"

"What?" Annie could see out of the corner of her eyes, the various patrons of the bar all making signs to ward against evil.

"Do you know what they did to guys up in Trost!?" the bartender practically screamed. "There wasn't a single survivor! They say the blood stains still haven't come out! THEY WERE TWELVE WHEN THEY DID IT!" He pointed to the door, his voice now practically hysterical. "GET OUT! NOW! BEFORE YOU BRING THEM DOWN ON US!"

Annie walked out the door in a daze. She was sure she could hear one of the patron hugging himself and whispering. "Not them, not them. I don't want to die. Oh Walls, not them."

Now how where they going to catch Eren?

\---

When Krista saw the priest, her first instinct had been to avoid eye-contact and walk faster. Then she realized who it was.

"Eren?"

Sure enough it was Eren; dressed in the robes of an initiate of the Wall Cult and carrying a bundle of religious pamphlets, which he was trying to distribute to passersby without success. The pleasant smile on his face looked wholly genuine, and was actually rather disturbing to those who knew him.

"What are you doing?" Kirsta hissed.

"Hiding," Eren answered, as if it should be obvious what he was doing.

"In the middle of the street?"

"Exactly, it's the last place anyone would think to look. Watch."

He turned suddenly towards a group of Military Policemen who were making their way down the street in Eren's general direction.

Eren put on a bright smile, and began making his way straight towards them. The two men froze, like civilians caught in the gaze of a titan.

"Good evening!" he greeted. "Would you two gentlemen be interested in hearing the holy words of our beloved saints Maria, Rose and Sina? Whose holy powers granted us these great walls which has provided all of humanity sanctuary and succor."

The military policemen pretended not to hear him, avoided eye contact, and began walking faster. Eren kept pace with them the whole way down the street, offering them pamphlets and religious quotations, until in desperation they both ducked into a women's clothing store to get away from him.

"See," Eren said, returning to Krista. He pretended not to notice the two policemen slip out of the store the moment his back was turned. "You're the first person whose even made eye contact in two whole weeks."

\---

It was safe to say that everyone was in a foul mood when the Scouting Legion returned from their latest attempts to pursue Eren Jeager. Today's wild goose chase had led them through the entire length of the Inner City, two estate kitchens, a badger hole, three apiaries full of angry bees, a coal silo, and finally a noxious chemical plant, before vanishing without warning or explanation, again.

Mike had temporarily lost his sense of smell, Hanji was still stoned from the chemical fumes, Levi's squad was still trying desperately to scrub the coal dust off their skin, and everyone in the Legion was nursing their own share of bee stings.

"I hate those brats," Levi snarled as he and Erwin made their way to Erwin's office.

"While we all must make sacrifices for the good of humanity," Erwin quoted. "I myself am beginning to question whether or not this whole pursuit is worth the time and expense we are currently putting into it. Jeager turning into a titan or not."

Erwin collapsed into his chair, reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He tossed the bottle to Levi, before reaching to his desk again and retrieving a second bottle. "Cheers," he toasted the bottle to Levi before both men popped the corks and took a drink.

"You know what I don't get." Levi hissed. "Is how those brats have managed to avoid getting caught for so long. They have the entire Military Police out for their blood. The Stationary Guard all have their description. We've been chasing them the entire time, and despite all that, if it wasn't for the fact that the hole in Wall Rose didn't seal itself, I would swear that those brats didn't even exist."

The commander let out a long sigh. "Levi, it almost sounds like you might be a little bit proud of those kids."

Levi let out a snort. "That was before they made me and my squad root around in a coal silo for four hours. This cravat was originally white you know."

Erwin let out a small half-laugh and corked his bottle. "Well, I suppose we should get on to business so that you can go and scrub the coal dust out of your clothes. I've received several new leads. While the tracker's guild is still refusing to so much as speak their names, I've heard reports that the three of them were sighted heading into the mountains near Drapur, supposedly carrying several large baskets of supplies. If we're lucky, they may have a hideout there."

"That's what you said about the Bracklin Forest," Levi reminded him.

"True," Erwin conceded. "But we don't have any better leads."

Levi rolled his eyes and nodded, conceding that point. He corked his own bottle and tossed it back to Erwin, who deposited both bottles back into his drawer. "I swear, it's like those damn brats are listening in on all our plans." The two men got up and headed for the door, shutting it behind them, and locking it with a click.

As soon as their footsteps had faded down the hall, the potted plant and pedestal in the corner of Erwin's office stood up.

"They're on to us," Armin muttered throwing off his disguise. "Mikasa did you get the horses?"

A false panel on the office wall popped open and Mikasa stepped out. "Of course. Eren is waiting for us in town disguised as a noodle vendor."

"Good," Armin folded up his disguise and tucked it into his coat. "We should get a good night's rest. We'll start making our way to Shiganshian tomorrow."

Both him and Mikasa climbed into the secret passage, and replaced the panel with a click.

**~Omake~**

The first thing that tipped Erwin off, is the fact that the potted plant in the corner of his office has mysteriously vanished.

The second thing, was the sudden realization that he had never had a potted plant in the corner of his office.

A frantic summons for Levi, and an equally frantic search of the office revealed a false panel, concealing a narrow passage which led directly to the stables. They also discovered a trap-door underneath Erwin's desk, which provided quick access to several of the castle's bedrooms, a hollowed out oak just outside the castle, a backroom in a brothel in Stohess, and the King's personal conservatory. (Erwin felt it was prudent not to mention this last one to the King.)

These discoveries were quickly followed by the news that several of their newly purchased horses had been stolen, and the groom in charge of the stable was huddled in the corner, repeating "I saw nothing," over and over.

Mike was immediately woken up, and since his sense of smell hadn't quite returned, was immediately administered a dose of Hanji's homemade nasal spray. (At least that's what she assured them it was. She was still a bit out of it from the chemical fumes so it was hard to be sure.)

After he had finished rolling around on the ground, rubbing his nose and screaming, Mike was led into the office and confirmed that both Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert had used the secret passage recently.

The entire Legion was promptly dragged out of their beds, and made to assemble in the mess hall.

Erwin promptly went on a short and brief statement on everything that had happened, and asked if anyone had noticed anything last night.

"So it wasn't a dream..." someone muttered from the back.

"What was that Kirstien!" Levi snapped.

Jean Kirstien gulped audibly, and stepped forward. "I um... saw Mikasa in the dorm room last night. It was late, I was half-asleep, and still a bit off from the fumes, so I thought it was all a dream."

"I... saw Armin too," Connie Springer admitted, stepping forward as well. "I thought he was a hallucination from the chemical fumes though."

"And why did you think you were seeing things?" Erwin asked tersely.

"Well," Connie shifted in place. "He said I was. He turned to me and said, "You're seeing things Connie. I'm just an hallucination from the chemical fumes."" Connie paused. "He was also dressed as a potted plant, so I thought he was right."

"Who else thought they were hallucinating about Arlert walking our halls dressed as a potted plant?" Erwin sighed.

Over half the people present raised a hand.

Erwin buried his face in his hands and felt like weeping.


End file.
